


Carry My Cross

by AnnaLiss17



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Crucifixion, F/M, Poisoning, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-27 00:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8381317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaLiss17/pseuds/AnnaLiss17
Summary: A/U. When the incestuous relationship between Robb Stark and Sansa Stark is discovered, and Ned takes away the children the exact same day everything comes out, the North decides to take revenge. Because there was nothing they hated more than incest and people who were committing it. (It's dark. It's very dark.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the movie Passions of the Christ.  
> The song is from the same movie.

_**As long as I remember,** _  
_**I've been walking through the wilderness.** _

When they took her to the Broken Tower, she knew that _they_ knew. They knew _everything_. Everything about her and Robb and their incestuous relationship... And she was more afraid than she has ever been in her life. She trembled with each step, looking for a way to escape. She thought of promises she could make, to be good, to be better, to be perfect! Sansa cries on the inside and she wonders if they are going to kill her, torture her, or spare her life. "Please." It is the first word she has spoken ever since they took her away from her home, away from her lover. How could she let this happen? How did they find out? Who told them?

"Sansa, you are to say no word of it." Her mother told her sternly. She had never seen her mother acting so cold towards her, she treated her like a bastard! No. Jon was probably higher in her eyes now than Robb and Sansa, her true born children. That, or she hated the three of them the same. Catelyn and Maester Luwin took her to the Tower with two other people she never met. Ned took away the other children. By the time he would be back, the day would be over and their eldest children's fate would be sealed. Forever.

_**Praying to the Father,** _

_**And waiting for my time.** _

"I-I love him." She replied with trembling voice allowing her tears to fall down on her cheeks, staining her beautiful face. "I'm sorry I'll be good. I swear. I will be _perfect_!"

"Nothing you say will mend your situation." Maester Luwin said on a sad tone. He feels compassion towards the both of them. He loves the Stark children like his own. He brought each one of them into the world and watched them grow up. He tried to mend their mother, it is true, but she was stone cold. Catelyn walks out to see of her son's fate and Luwin follows her, but not before giving Sansa an unseful apologetic look. The other two stayed behind to watch her.

What Cat and Luwin did not know was that they poisoned the Stark girl. With blood falling out of her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, Sansa died begging for mercy. And with Robb and only Robb on her mind, she used her final powers to mutter that she loves him.

 _**I've come here with a mission.** _  
_**And soon I'll give my life for this world.** _

Robb was praying in the garden, for a miracle, when they came for him. At least, they waited respectfully until he finished. He hasn't prayed too much in his life. He was never the one religious like his father, mother, or his sister. Now, he prayed for both of them. He apologized many times to the Gods for loving his sister the way he did, he was angry with himself for not being able to get over these feelings. A person looks for their other half all their lives, some find it, while some die sad and lonely or marrying someone they do not love. Robb has found his other half only a few months ago, and learned that he lived with her for his entire life. He knew her better than anyone else. He loved her more than anything when he shouldn't. He apologized for it, but Robb never truly felt sorry. When he stood up, he saw that he was surrounded. And he knew there was nothing he could do, but follow them. And he kept praying mentally. Sansa's safety being the main priority on his mind.

They take him back to the court and there is mass people outside. They are all silent while he walks in the middle, being in the center. Jon was there, Theon was holding a tight grip on his arm. If Theon was friend or enemy, Robb did not know anymore. And he realized that Jon was more of a brother than Greyjoy has ever been... He should've treated Jon better and also make the others treat him better. Robb feels like crying, but he knows he has to be strong. He is a Stark!

 **_I'm praying in the garden._ **  
**_And I'm looking for a miracle._ **

His blue eyes fly through the mass of people looking for friendly faces. He finds none. All of them look at him with hate, disgust, anger, betrayal or a wish for all of this to be a lie. He bites the inside of his cheek when the people move way to make clear road for Catelyn Stark followed by Maester Luwin. He will not have too much her mercy and he knows it.

"Robb of House Stark." Catelyn says loud enough for everyone to hear "Son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. Son of mine. You are here to answer for your accusation of committing incest with Sansa Stark, your blood sister. How do you answer for them?"

"I pledge guilty." Robb responds and closes his eyes when the crowd starts yelling insults all at once. Some of them could be barely heard, while the rest he hears are so horrible he wished he wouldn't have heard them. Why was he punished so hard for being in love? "I am guilty of being in love!" He declares loudly and he faces another wave of insults and hate. In his mind he covers his ears from them. In his mind Sansa's tells him the sweetest things and her voice overpowers the crowd. It gives him the strength he needs to go on.

 **_I find the journey hard, but_ **  
**_It's the reason I was born._ **

"My lords. Please." Even Cat hates the insults she hears. After all he is still her son. Her first son. It takes a while before silence settles again. "Robb... why?" She doesn't allow the people to see or hear her pain, but he knows her better than most. And he sees only now just how much his mother is suffering from this. "Ned and I raised all of you so well... what did we do wrong?"

"You did nothing." Robb mutters softly "I'm sorry... for everyone having to find out like this." if anyone hoped he would be apologizing for something else, they were proved wrong. "I... I wish things would've had a better turn out. I love her... and she loves me." he may apologize for loving his sister the way he does, but he will never feel truly sorry for it. He's certain. "And I will take any punishment that is given to me!"

 **_Can this cup be passed on?_ **  
**_Lord, I pray your will be done_ **  
**_In this world._ **

Lord Bolton gave a crooked smile. "We were expecting nothing less of you, my lord." he turns to Catelyn Stark "My lady, while you were away, earlier in the hour, we gathered all the lords together, trying to decide what kind of punishment is best for the incestuous Robb Stark and Sansa Stark." _And for what we came up with, you should thank me for sparing the girl's life. Poison is most merciful in this situation._ Roose thinks, but he does not add out loud. "Take Maester Luwin inside the castle, and seize lady Catelyn."

Lord Karstark and Manderly each grab one of Catelyn's arms keeping a tight grip on her. Jon tries to run out of the crowd when Theon releases the grip on his arm, but only to get a better hold on Jon by having one arm around his throat. "You will kill yourself if you go there." Jon already knew that. But he didn't care. He smelled it... the punishment... it's harsh and rough and especially gruesome if they want Lady Stark held in one place.

 _**So I'll carry my cross,** _  
_**And I'll carry the shame,** _  
_**To the end of the road,** _  
_**Through the struggle and pain.** _  
_**And I'll do it for love,** _  
_**No, it won't be in vain,** _  
_**Yes, I'll carry my cross,** _  
_**And I'll carry the shame.** _

Roose looks down and smiles before he walks towards the center of the crowd where the heir of Winterfell is standing. "My lord. We all respect your father and love him deeply, do not ever doubt that. But it is not him we are punishing for his immoral crimes... it is you." Robb nodded solemnly. "And we have decided to let you go." no, no, it's too easy. Too easy! "If you can survive what we like to call...well none of us came up with an acceptable name so far, maybe you will be more inspired than we were." a servant brought out a log, while another brought rope, and one brought up a whip. But it was not a normal one, it was a special one because of the claw-like spikes at the end, which Robb believed they were made from bits of metal, glass or even bones. His eyes go wide when he sees the weapon, Catelyn slowly starts realizing what's going to happen, and Jon struggles to get away from Theon.

 **_I feel like I'm alone here,_ **  
**_And I'm treated like a criminal._ **

Robb takes a visible shaky breath. And he stays frozen for a moment. Then he takes the first step, and the second, and the third, until he reaches the tall log and offers his hands to be tied. He kneels down and feels his cotton long sleeved shirt being ripped apart until he is left shirtless. He bows his head resting his forehead on the wood awaiting for his punishment to come, they can have anything they want from him, but they will not have his dignity. He hears his mother crying and he barely feels a thing.

When the first hit comes, the pain is nothing Robb ever expected, and bigger than all the pain he has ever felt before and until now all mixed together. He feels as if he is experimenting pain for the very first time in his life, and it's worse than anything he could ever imagine. The scourge rips through his skin and leaves a mark much like a wolf's claws on its master's back. Robb screams louder than he has ever screamed before, even louder than the day he was born, but he hides his face away and tries to think more of Sansa. As the second hit comes, the crowd becomes pleasure by his screams. Catelyn perhaps is the only ones crying almost just as loud as he was. When the scourge is raised for the third time, it's Theon who lets go of Jon willingly. Both try to run and help their brother, but they are held back and ordered to be locked inside the castle. Cat falls on her knees, unable to content herself. Robb's back is covered in blood and marks that he will never be able to recover fully from. Just for a split of second, he raises his head and their eyes meet.

 **_The time has come for me now,_ **  
**_Even though I've done no wrong._ **

What he sees is a mother who wished to turn back the time and protect her son. What she sees is a determined man. Despite it all, he's determined to get through this as long as at the end of the day it is certain he will return to his lover. And he also gives the people what they want. He screams at the top of his lungs, he shows his pain and let the others take sick enjoyment of it. He can't even realize when they are finished. He takes notice of it when the ropes around his hands are cut off. Covered in sweat as he is, Robb is helped by someone to stand up and present the ugly, bloody, and atrocious of his punishment. He was panting hard, his head was dizzy, and his back hurt so much that it did not hurt anymore.

Roose comes up to him. "That was only for warming." Robb's color drains when he hears that. He tries to ask if there is more, but he can barely move his jaw. "Now the real punishment begins." everyone is silent because they all want to hear the punishment "We're going to tie you to a cross, and by tying I also mean digging your hands into it." he will never be able to use his hands again "If you can make it from here, with your bare feet, to the Broken Tower than you are free to go. No Northman shall ever insult you or try to murder you. I will protect you with my life, I swear it by the old gods and the new."

 **_Father, please forgive them,_ **  
**_They know not what they've done,_ **  
**_In this world._ **

"Robb, don't do it!" Catelyn begs him sobbing "Lords, my lords, all of you! I beg your forgiveness!" tears were falling down on her face like a furious river "Spare my son of the torture! Don't let him take all the road himself let Sansa come to him and meet halfway! I beg you!" but she is ignored. A giant cross is being dragged towards Robb. The poor boy is so shaken up he doesn't even remember when they laid him on it. But he knows exactly the first nail was dug into his palm and right into the wood. Robb screamed so loudly, the birds were scared away from the trees and they all landed on the walls of Winterfell as if to see what's going on. The second nail is dug in his other palm and it doesn't hurt as much as the first one... but Robb still screams. And the people don't even bother helping him turn the cross to start his road. He lays with his face in the sun, covered in sweat and blood, and he feels like crying.

_Sansa... she's waiting for me. My sweet wolf is calling for me. I must go to her._

"Kill him already!"

"He's dead!"

"He will never make it."

 **_So I'll carry my cross,_ **  
**_And I'll carry the shame,_ **  
**_To the end of the road,_ **  
**_Through the struggle and pain._ **  
**_And I'll do it for love,_ **  
**_No, it won't be in vain,_ **  
**_Yes, I'll carry my cross,_ **  
**_And I'll carry the shame._ **

Furrowing his brows, it takes a great strength and almost no one believes that he was able to roll over. But he was. He managed to roll over on his own, his chest falling into the dirt. Robb brings up one knee, and the other. People gasp in shock repeatedly as he struggles to stand up with the cross tied on his back. He can not feel his hands anymore. Neither his back. Or his pain as he takes the first step. The crowd makes way for him as he takes slow and shaken steps dragging the cross with him. And then they began to show their true colors... they threw at him with dirt, sand, bones, apple cores, rests of various foods, while some even spat at him or where he stepped. The insults were still high on their tongues.

_I'm coming my love. I'm coming. We'll get through this together. I promise._

**_Three more days and I'll be coming back again._ **

His mother passes out from the amount of feelings she had, she nearly had a heart attack as her boy was distancing himself from her, leaving behind the courtyard, and heading towards the Broken Tower. Yes, the people are shocked that he is still standing, but he not give them the satisfaction to see him begging for mercy. With each steps he becomes more confident and happier, closer to his lover, a small smile creeped up on his face, but a person threw in his face some terribly smelling fish bones and the smile was gone. He had to focus on Sansa! He had to focus on Sansa... because she is his strength and she gives him the strength to go on. Robb bits hard on his lip, forcing his ruined feet to keep moving, ignoring entirely the crowd.

_We'll take the money we need and as much gold as we can. We'll leave this place behind, just you and me. Us three. We'll be so happy, you will see._

**_Three_** **_more days and I'll be coming back again._ **

As they approached the tower, Robb could not be more amazed of himself. He thought he will pass out at the first hit of the whip, he thought he will die when the nails were dug into his palms, and he thought he will be terminated when the heavy cross was added on his already degraded back. He sees a body laying down on the grass with two people, one at the feet and one at the head. When he sees the red long hair, Robb stops for a moment and his mouth falls open. With unrealistic power he hurries dragging the damn wood and leaving behind a long trace of it. He stops again once he gets to face Sansa... his Sansa... she's dead. There is blood on her angelic face and he does not know if it's his or hers.

He falls down onto his knees the cross giving a loud thud. And Robb starts crying burying his face in her chest screaming with much more pain than he did when we was being whipped.

 _**Yeah, so I'll carry my cross,** _  
_**And I'll carry the shame,** _  
_**To the end of the road,** _  
_**Through the struggle and pain.** _  
_**And I'll do it for love,** _  
_**No, it won't be in vain,** _  
_**Yes, I'll carry my cross,** _  
_**And I'll carry the shame.** _

After Catelyn recovered from her passing out, she ran inside the castle and search ever possible room until she found Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy and freed them. Together the three of them ran towards the Broken Tower, following the cross' trace, and when they reached it, they realized they were too late. Robb has been crucified, died only a few minutes from blood loss and at his feet was laying his sister Sansa. Also dead. But for a much longer time. Catelyn screams in agony falling down before her children.

 **_Yeah, I'll carry my cross,_ **  
**_Yeah, I'll carry the shame._ **

"This was all _your_ fault!" She turns around when her husband's bastard yells at her. She sees tears falling from his eyes, tears she has never seen before because Jon never cried. "What is wrong with _you_?! Why didn't you protect them? They loved each other so much." Jon sobs and does not even bother wiping the tears. He looks at her with tremblings eyes and lip. "They were going to be parents..." he mutters to her and sees the horror on Catelyn's face which brings him satisfaction. "They were going to have a baby, Sansa told him the other day, and they were so _thrilled_ about it!"

"How can you live with yourselves?" Theon screamed at the crowd wailing "We do not choose who we fall in love with!"

**_Oh, I'll do it for love, yeah!_ **

**_Oh, I will carry my cross._ **

"I hated you..." Jon says speaking only to Catelyn while looking directly in her eyes, full of hate. "I still hate you... and I wanted to kill you once I heard you're going against Robb. But now I realize death is too merciful for you. And the only reason you're still alive is because I want to make sure you will suffer like a dog for the rest of your life! You deserve all the hate in the world! You and the people who are present here." taking one look at his dead brother and dead sister, Jon Snow walked over to Catelyn. To make sure she stays there long enough.

By the time Ned was back, the day was over, and the eldest children's fate was sealed forever.

**_I'll carry the shame._ **


End file.
